Flogging Royal Mail to faraway owners is a gamble that may go horribly wrong for Labour
The Guardian|December 17, 2024
It is hard to see why the performance of Royal Mail should improve beyond what it could have achieved under its own steam
- Nils Pratley
Flogging Royal Mail to faraway owners is a gamble that may go horribly wrong for Labour

Two general elections ago, Labour was promising to renationalise Royal Mail. Now, in office, it is happy to see the ancient institution fall to a leveraged takeover bid from a private equity-style firm that will have the power to set the price of a first-class stamp from Prague. The decision is an outright gamble. Many European countries have privatised their postal services but there is a good reason why none has allowed ownership to pass overseas. Even in a digital age, businesses such as Royal Mail provide critical national infrastructure that has a social value on top. Naturally, the boasts from the government on day one were about the supposed robustness of the undertakings agreed with EP UK Bidco, the takeover vehicle owned by Daniel KřetínskÃœ, the multibillionaire Czech tycoon, and his 44% co-investors, J&T.

And it is true there were welcome tweaks to the original version that was unveiled when the board of International Distribution Services, Royal Mail's parent, rolled over in May and surrendered for 370p a share, or £3.6bn. The UK government will get a golden share in Royal Mail, for starters, to give it a permanent say in the governance set-up and tax location.

この蚘事は The Guardian の December 17, 2024 版に掲茉されおいたす。

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この蚘事は The Guardian の December 17, 2024 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

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